Here's Sky's plan to fight Netflix and BT

Jude Law will star in The Young Pope, a joint production between Sky, HBO, and Canal+. Mike Coppola/Getty Images Sky's CEO Jeremy Darroch wants to turn the satellite TV broadcaster into "a new European powerhouse for TV content" — a big switch for a company that built its business buying in football coverage and exclusive series.

More interesting than the in-line numbers are Sky's plans for the future. Darroch is trumpeting two upcoming series that are part of the broadcaster's "push into original content." Up until now Sky has mainly been a distributor, not a producer, of programmes.

The Young Pope is a joint production with HBO and French cable operator Canal+ and will be directed by Italy's Paolo Sorrentino, who won an Oscar in 2014 for Best Foreign Language Film.

Sky's Darroch says all of this shows "the scale of our ambition." But Sky pretty much has to be ambitious — it has to fight its way out of a corner.

Sky is facing two big problems right now: the rise of Netflix and BT battling it for the sports market.

On the one hand, Netflix is offering a tonne of cheap content to consumers. While Sky still has exclusive rights in the UK on things like Game of Thrones and Modern Family, the sheer quantity of good stuff people can get access to elsewhere is lessening the appeal.

A promotional shot from Fortitude, Sky's big push into original programming last year. Sky But it's dangerous to rely on other people for the success of your business and Sky knows it needs to start making its own programmes to make sure it can keep people renewing subscriptions.

That's why it launched big budget Scandi-style crime drama Fortitude last year and why its shouting about The Last Panthers and The Young Pope now.